Judge rejects Ghost Ship fire defendant’s bail request

Updated 5:03 pm, Friday, July 28, 2017

Photo: Associated Press

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FILE - This June 8, 2017, file photo released by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office shows Max Harris at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Calif. Harris and Derick Almena (not pictured) have been jailed on $1.08 million bail since their arrest in June on 36 charges of involuntary manslaughter in a deadly warehouse fire. Both are scheduled to enter pleas at their Friday, July 28, 2017, court hearing. (Alameda County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) less

FILE - This June 8, 2017, file photo released by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office shows Max Harris at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Calif. Harris and Derick Almena (not pictured) have been jailed on $1.08 ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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This Dec. 3, 2016, file image from video provided by KGO-TV shows the Ghost Ship warehouse after a fire swept through the building in Oakland, Calif., killing 36 people at a music event.

This Dec. 3, 2016, file image from video provided by KGO-TV shows the Ghost Ship warehouse after a fire swept through the building in Oakland, Calif., killing 36 people at a music event.

Photo: Associated Press

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This undated file photo provided by the City of Oakland shows inside the burned warehouse after the deadly fire that broke out on Dec. 2, 2016, in Oakland, Calif.

This undated file photo provided by the City of Oakland shows inside the burned warehouse after the deadly fire that broke out on Dec. 2, 2016, in Oakland, Calif.

Photo: Associated Press

Judge rejects Ghost Ship fire defendant’s bail request

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One of two defendants charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland faced a judge Friday who denied his bid to be released on his own recognizance.

Max Harris, 28, appeared briefly in Alameda County Superior Court where his attorneys asked Judge Kevin Murphy to drop his $1.08 million bail so he could be released from the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he has been held since early June.

While Murphy declined to grant the request, he did lower Harris’ bail to $750,000, which he will probably not be able to raise, his attorneys said.

“What happened (Friday) is unjust. Max Harris is innocent. Max Harris shouldn’t be in custody and his bail, although it was reduced and most people would see that as a victory, we have an innocent man, we have a young kid, we have an artist who did his best to save lives ... and now he’s subject to raising $750,000,” said Curtis Briggs, one of Harris’ attorneys.

As Harris entered the courtroom wearing a red jail jumpsuit and with his blue-green hair tied in a ponytail, he stared straight at his attorneys as he walked over to the defense table.

His attorneys pointed out to the judge two of Harris’ friends sitting in the court gallery. Harris, with his hands shackled by a chain around his waist, turned toward them briefly, giving a smile before taking his seat.

The friends, Elissa Roy and Alex Goldman, sat with their heads bowed toward one another, as Tyler Smith, another of Harris’ attorneys, read from letters they submitted to the court vouching for Harris’ character.

The letters were among 31 presented to the court in support of Harris’ release, describing him as a “gentle soul” and a “kindhearted human.”

Prosecutors argued that to ensure Harris would return to court for trial, a high bail is necessary.

“I can say Max Harris is probably a good man,” said prosecutor Autrey James. “But I can’t say if he will come back.”

James submitted two letters from some of the family members of the 36 people killed in the Dec. 2 inferno at the Fruitvale area warehouse, asking the judge to keep Harris in jail.

Murphy raised his own concerns on releasing Harris, citing his lack of employment and family ties in the Bay Area, though Roy and Goldman offered to put him up if he were released.

Roy wiped away tears after the judge’s decisions as she and Goldman hugged.

In announcing charges against Harris and co-defendant Derick Almena, 47, on June 5, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said the two men knowingly created a “fire trap” at the Ghost Ship warehouse, which had been illegally converted into a artist collective.

The arrests of Harris and Almena marked the end of a six-month investigation that began the night the fire erupted at the artist collective at 1301 31st Ave. during an unpermitted electronic music event that was open to the public. Most of the victims were trapped on the second floor as a wall of smoke and flames engulfed the building’s maze-like escape routes. All of the victims died from smoke inhalation.

O’Malley further accused Harris of blocking an exit stairwell during the fire — a claim that his lawyers have adamantly denied.

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“Max Harris will not rot in jail,” Briggs told reporters outside the courtroom.

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